Abus Tec-Tical Pro Race helmet

Lightweight and well-constructed offering from Abus but there are better options at this price point

Weight:

265g

Contact:

www.zyro.co.uk

Abus Tec-Tical Pro Race helmet

610Trev Allen

At £99.99 the Tec-Tical Pro Race is the flagship model from German company Abus. Construction quality is good but it lacks any real standout features with plenty of competition from more performance orientated brands.

The Tec-Tical Pro Race weighs 245grams; light but not market-leading for £100. That weight is achieved thanks to the multi-shell in-mould process (so Abus say), which joins the outer skin to the EPS shell – a process not uncommon in most top-end lids.

It features 23 vents with 14 inlets and 9 exhausts although vent size is not notably large. Cooling was okay, but from my experience not quite as good as Cratoni or Specialized.

Other features are easily removable straps for washing and a little pad to protect your neck from the buckle. Not that buckles are particularly annoying but those with beards might like it.

Abus are more associated with the lower to mid-end of the helmet spectrum. The Tec-Tical Pro Race is a snazzed up version of the, you guessed it, Tec-Tical. The heritage shows in details such as the harness and adjustment system. The Abus has a slightly cheap feeling to it with a rather large and overly plasticky adjustment wheel.

Side by side with a Bell Sweep it is pretty clear that the Bell takes its harness from a more expensive model; better materials, adjustment and in general a more secure feeling.

The shell is relatively shallow and sits on higher than some on your noggin which doesn't fill you with confidence. That said, testing the protective nature in the field of helmets is always impossible unless you are road.cc's Liam Glen who seems quite happy to bin it in the name of product testing. Having not crashed the Tec-Tical Pro Race we can only take the EN1078 compliance as sufficient evidence that it will do its real job when asked.

Verdict

Lightweight and well-constructed offering from Abus but there are better options at this price point

road.cc test report

Make and model: Abus Tec-Tical Pro Race helmet

Size tested: Medium

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Top level offering from German brand Abus aimed at the serious amateur cyclist and skater (that's roller blading to me and you)

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

In mould process to fuse the skin to the polystyrene shell is used to keep weight down and ensure a long lasting marriage of the two parts

Rate the product for quality of construction:

8/10

Rate the product for performance:

6/10

The adjustment and harness system is clearly cheaper and less adjustable than some of its competitors at this price point.

Rate the product for durability:

6/10

Rate the product for weight, if applicable:

8/10

245grams is good at £100 but the Mojito from KASK is 10% lighter at 220

Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:

6/10

Not bad but certainly not one of those helmets where you have to check if it is still on its so comfortable.

Here's how we roll at road.cc:

Every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a real insight into whether it works or not. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective, and we strive to ensure that all opinions expressed are backed up by facts, but reviews are always a reviewer's informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores. It reflects both a product's function and value. Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad. Here's what they mean: